During one of my many moves in the last few years, my husband and I decided it was time to get rid if the old tupperware. Some of it dated back to his and my childhood ("borrowed" from our parents when we moved out on our own). I had always heard that you shouldn't microwave food in plastic or put plastic through the dishwasher, or use plastic that looked degraded, but I never really got serious about it until we had our first child. Then I decided that I didn't want any of us eating plastic. But, you know what? Hand-washing plastic containers and transferring food into glass containers to microwave it got old really fast. So I decided that we would ditch all of our mismatched plastic containers, and buy Pyrex.

No plastic in my food. The lids are plastic, but the food rarely comes in contact with them. Glass has been safely used for food by humanity for years and years. No plastic in my food also means no BPA, no phthalates, or any of the other mysterious man-made chemicals in plastics in my food.

Safe in the dishwasher. This might be the very best perk (after not eating plastic) because I truly hate hand washing dishes. Dishes that need to be hand washed just get stacked up higher and higher in my sink as the days pass. I love putting my Pyrex storage containers (and bake ware) straight into the dishwasher.

Safe in the microwave and oven. I also put it in the toaster oven all the time (because I hate how chicken gets all rubbery when it's reheated in the microwave), even though the instructions say not to. I do hand wash the lids which are BPA-free (Pyrex says they're dishwasher safe, but I don't want to risk any warping).

I can see my food! Lots of my plastic food containers were opaque or hard to see through. I know there are some clearer plastic containers now, but I would imagine that even those would get cloudier over time.

Durable. Glass containers last far longer than plastic ones. You should replace your containers when the plastic looks damaged (cracking, pocking, warping) in any way. After 3 years of heavy use, my Pyrex shows no signs of wear.

Cheaper, in the long run. Because I may never have to replace it. Also saves me precious time since I don't have to research which plastic options are safest.

No staining. No damage from acidic foods. Have you ever microwaved tomato sauce in a plastic container? And then in certain places the surface looked kind of rough or pocked? That's the acid in the food eating away at the plastic, which ends up. . . in your food.

No retention of flavors. I hated this about plastic containers.

Stackable. I know this is true if you buy a set of tupperware too, but I never had a "set." Just a bunch of mismatched stuff. The Pyrex stacks very nicely.

And last but not least, made in the USA.

So when it's time to replace your plastic food containers (again), consider buying some Pyrex instead!

P.S. I'm not morally opposed to plastic. I just like to use alternatives when I can. I bought a nicer set of Rubbermaid for a great deal at the Grocery Store Outlet (to use to give people food, and for foods on-the-go) about the same time I got all my Pyrex. Now that Rubbermaid, even with very limited use and limited hand-washing is looking pretty worn and has broken in several places. As I have found in many instances, the plastic alternative turns out to better than the plastic.

P.P.S. Anchor is also tempered glass and made in the USA. It is generally cheaper than Pyrex, but, in my experience, the lids never fit well and the pieces are less well made (this may have changed in the many years since I wrote this post). Sorry, Anchor! (I do often buy Anchor for things that don't need lids, like bake ware and liquid measuring cups.)

I decided to go "plastic-less" last year...but a few pieces have still crept back in! I mostly love using glass for ALL the reasons you listed, but we keep a little plastic around for packing lunches or sending leftovers home with guests.

I need to take the plunge and spend the money to get pyrex. I'm sure it will save me money and be healthier in the long run--I just hate spending all that money up front! We did buy non-plastic lunch box stuff this year (Kids Konserve metal containers) and some reusable sandwich wraps. I'm happy to be using them for lunches instead of ziploc bags.

Good for Betsy! I came to you through Euphoria Mommy...your adventure in green sounds so similar to what I've been working on for the past several years! I always emphasize the journey, baby steps are the key, otherwise it is too overwhelming! And cast iron is amazing...even with eggs, you just need to add olive oil before and after use...I am using my grandmother's 100 year old cast iron skillet for everything and loving it way more than non-stick (no scratches)!! I hope you'll check out my blog & maybe we can button swap?

Love your blog, found you from Life as Mom. Have you ever tried the glass snap-n-go's? They have them on sale Costco this month and I was thinking about getting a set. We are trying to switch over from plastic, too.

Andrea, yes some plastic always seems to creep in (and sometimes it seems like -- what does it really matter? everything I buy at the store is packaged in plastic anyway.) But it's good to take steps in the right direction, no?

Rachel, I agree 100%. I HATE to throw away food, esp. if I made it. When I use opaque containers, the food almost always goes bad. Who wants to open the mystery container? No one. It's hard enough to get all the leftovers eaten in time even with see-through glass.

Meghan, just checked out those kids konserve containers -- good find. I want to stop using ziploc bags too.

Amber, you are so lucky to inherit your grandma's already seasoned cast iron. I am using a new "preseasoned" pan and I can tell you that it is not as non-stick as a teflon pan.

Mara, I got the coupon for the Snap-n-go, but I've never tried them. I'm not sure if they'd be less than Pyrex or not.

This post warmed my heart! I work for Corning, Inc., where Pyrex was born around 1915. That's one of our great company stories -- a scientist named Dr. Jessie Littleton took a glass railroad lantern, sawed it off to give it a narrow lip, and asked his wife, "what would you do with this?" She answered, "Well, I could make a cake in it..." It turned out great and launched the enduring Pyrex brand. Corning doesn't manufacture Pyrex anymore, but it's still a treasured story in company lore.

I agree with every bit of this article! Pyrex also compares favorably with Corningware containers, which are opaque and have lower quality lids--after several years, we're still using the Corningware pieces as dishes, but almost all the lids have torn and all are horribly discolored.

I hand-wash the lids not only to avoid warping but also because when we've put them in the dishwasher, they get a slight film of white stuff--is it dishwasher detergent?--and any food near the rim of the lid tends to stay on there and get more firmly stuck.

I also use glass jars that salsa, peanut butter, etc. came in, as containers for leftovers and for other storage purposes. They can go in the microwave (lid off) and sometimes we just eat out of them. They work really well and cost nothing!

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